Nanoporous sponges for atmospheric water capture
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Water stress has no borders and is worsening due to climate change. Cape Town in South Africa had to impose severe restrictions on water consumption in 2018 because of extreme shortages. In the summer of 2020, restrictions were also implemented in Quebec, and First Nations communities have faced challenges in accessing safe drinking water for several years. Alternative water sources, including adsorption from the atmosphere, are needed to secure water resources. Nanoporous sponges (NPS) are new carbon-based adsorbents, synthesized by pyrolysis of low-cost precursors, that achieve performance comparable to—and in some cases exceeding—that of state-of-the-art metal–organic framework (MOF) materials at very low cost.
The goal of Prof. Jason Robert Tavares at Polytechnique Montréal is to bridge the gap between laboratory prototypes and the deployment of NPS by: (1) understanding the parameters affecting the scale-up of the NPS synthesis process and improving their properties; (2) accelerating water capture and release cycles and quantifying energy requirements; and (3) fabricating and testing new generations of water capture devices while validating the quality of the produced water. This project will provide a deeper understanding of the factors affecting scale-up, particularly adsorption and desorption cycle times, to increase the amount of water that can be produced per day per kilogram of material.
This project will also support the training of one research associate and 17 students, including three master’s students, two doctoral students, one postdoctoral fellow, and nine interns in the field of atmospheric water capture.
It will first benefit First Nations communities, which will participate in the evaluation of prototypes with the support of community leaders and technology deployment experts, and it will also provide industrial benefits for water production in the beverage and agricultural sectors.
In addition, the Quebec-based company Awn Nanotech will be able to increase its commercial potential and strengthen its position as a leader in addressing water shortages, which know no borders.
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